14092023-ATR-01.qxd 9/14/2023 12:50 AM Page 1 c m y b Amritsar tribune SAFAI SEWAKS PROTEST OVER PENDING DUES IN TARN TARAN Sanitary workers of the Civil Hospital stage a dharna to protest against nonpayment of remuneration. P2 » SINGER TAYLOR SWIFT RACKS UP NINE TROPHIES AT MTV’S AWARDS Taylor Swift took home the top prize at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards for her Anti-Hero music video. P3 » FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY DHANJANI ON HIS INTERACTIVE FILM, LOST AND FOUND IN SINGAPORE MX Player recently launched interactive film Lost and Found in Singapore starring Rithvik Dhanjani. P4 » MAX 34°C | MIN 27°C YESTERDAY MAX 36°C | MIN 28°C SUNSET THURSDAY 6.38 PM SUNRISE FRIDAY 6:13 AM THURSDAY | 14 SEPTEMBER 2023 | AMRITSAR CM Mann, Kejriwal inaugurate state’s first School of Eminence Students honour Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal; and (right) Kejriwal and Mann launch free school transport service from School of Eminence at Chheharta in Amritsar on Wednesday. TRIBUNE PHOTOS Neha Saini Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 13 Dedicating the first School of Eminence (SoE) in state to students at Chheharta, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal today termed it as a stepping stone for a major revolution in the field of education. The two were accompanied by Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains on the occasion. Calling Schools of Eminence the first step in transforming the lives of children in Punjab, Mann said the government’s initiative would AAP CONVENER BREAKS THE ICE Arvind Kejriwal interacted with students of the Chheharta SoE as he broke the ice. He was briefed about several projects being undertaken by students. Himmat Singh, a Class XII (Non-medical) student, explained to Kejriwal about his project of developing prototypes of shoes that also had mobile chargers. Himmat has made shoes with a sole fitted with electric strip that act as a circuit and can be used as a taser when in need. He also showed Kejriwal how his prototypes worked. ensure that students, especially from poor and underprivileged sections, had access to quality education. Kejriwal and Mann interacted with students of the school in classrooms. Kejriwal visited science and computer labs and asked students about their studies. He also interacted with parents present on the occasion. The Chheharta SoE has 96 students, who were enrolled through merit examination, conducted by the state for admission. Both Kejriwal and Mann were given a guard of honour by the NCC cadets. They also visited the newly constructed basketball court where Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains apprised them about upgraded infrastructure of the school. Later, both the CMs flagged off the first bus of the transport facility for the government schools in the state. Apart from Chheharta, three more Schools of Eminence would come up at Town Hall, Jandiala Guru and on Mall Road where work was already going on. The Schools of Eminence would have upgraded infrastructure, digital classrooms, smart playgrounds, integrated computer and science labs and school transport facility, apart from the AI labs. SAD leader Tikka joins BJP Amritsar, September 13 The three-day tour of Punjab by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal starting from the holy city brought the traffic to halt today. Commuters faced traffic hassles and snarls. Kejriwal was accompanied by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Cabinet colleagues. The main roads of the city, including bypasses and all routes leading to Ranjit Avenue, were out-of-bounds for commuters as the police had installed barricades. Subsequently, traffic spilled over to adjoining roads resulting in traffic jams on Cantonment Road, university area and other stretches. Heavy rush of vehicles was witnessed on Maqbool Road, in Majitha, Batala and on GT Road heading from Gha Mandi Chowk to New Amritsar. The police stop vehicular traffic near School of Eminence in Amritsar on Wednesday. PHOTO: SUNIL KUMAR reached two hours late due to traffic ❝Istudents homeas house tests are going on insnarls on the city roads. The delay will cost dear schools. Students would have less time for the preparation of exams. ❞ Dilpreet Singh, CLASS XI STUDENT Among stranded commuters were office-goers, shoppers, school buses and others. Peo- ple got stuck in traffic jams for hours’ altogether. There was a lot of cacophony as motorists kept honking. Dilpreet Singh, a Class XI student, said he reached Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 13 The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has suffered a setback with its district urban president Gurpartap Singh Tikka today joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi. Notably, Tikka had submitted his resignation from the primary membership of SAD on September 11. Along with him, former senior Deputy Mayor Ajaibirpal Singh Randhawa and former party general secretary Jaspal Singh Shantu too joined the saffron party in the presence of Gujarat’s former CM Vijay Rupani, Punjab BJP state president Sunil Jakhar, Punjab BJP national secretary Narendra Raina and BJP district president (Urban) Harwinder Singh Sandhu. Ex-Sr Deputy Mayor & ex-general secy follow suit Tikka, who served as SAD’s urban head besides youth wing district chief for a long time, said that the SAD leadership has been ignoring the contribution of ‘Taksali’ Akalis and had deviated from its core issues. VVIP movement brings traffic to halt in city Tribune News Service Youth stabbed to death in Gharinda home two hours late due to traffic snarls. He said, “The delay cost students dear as house tests are going on in schools. They would have less time for the preparation.” Sanjiv Kumar, a commuter, said traffic jams, slow movement of vehicles and alarming level of honking made commuting a challenge on a hot and humid Wednesday. Meanwhile, officials said the Police Department had made a route plan for dignitaries for going to rally venues. As per plan, commuters were advised not to ply vehicles on the 15-km stretch of GT Road heading from Golden Gate to India Gate bypass. The dignitaries were to go to School of Eminence, Chheharta, through India Gate intersection and attend a rally at Ranjit Avenue. All roads leading to these two places were closed for the city commuters. Amritsar, September 13 A youth identified as Kuldeep Singh of Hamidpura village was stabbed to death by a man allegedly over a dispute involving a girl in the Gharinda police station area here last night. The police booked suspect Gurdeep Singh of Hamidpura Colony in the Naraingarh area for murder. No arrest was made till now as the suspect was absconding. The complainant, Harpal Singh, a resident of Basarke Gillage village, told the police that he and his friend Kuldeep were going towards GT Road in Chheharta from the latter’s residence in Hamidpura last night on his auto-rickshaw. He said when they reached near Dhillon bus wali gali, a youth signalled auto-rickshaw to stop. Harpal said when Kuldeep stopped his three-wheeler, the suspect pulled him out of the vehicle and started abusing and thrashing him. Harpal said he tried to intervene and stop them, but the suspect took out a sharp weapon and stabbed Kuldeep in ribs. The victim fell on the ground and started bleeding profusely. Harpal said he raised an alarm following which the suspect fled from the spot. The complainant said with the help of a passerby, he rushed the victim to the Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. Sheetal Singh, SHO, 634 candidates wait for job letters Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 13 Days after Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann handed over appointment letters to new recruits of the Punjab Police, 634 candidates selected for the civilian support staff in the Punjab Bureau of Investigation (Punjab Police) continue to wait for their job letters. The selection process finished in March 2022. Selected candidates on anonymity stated that jobs for legal, forensic, finance and information technology (IT) in the Punjab Bureau of Investigation (PBI) were advertised on August 17, 2021. A computer-based entrance examination was conducted on November 21 and 22, 2021. After the result was declared on March 28, scrutinisation of documents was completed on August 9, 2022. Final list of the successful candidates was uploaded by the department on its website on November 2, 2022. These candidates were not issued joining letters. Aspirants said out of the selected candidates, 235 had an IT background. Majority of them left their jobs with IT firms in Noida, Gurugram, Bengaluru and other cities and returned to their homes. Now, they were forced to lead a life of an unemployed while facing economic crunch. The suspects in custody of the police in Amritsar. TRIBUNE PHOTO Gang of robbers busted, ex-Armymanamong5held Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 13 Acting on a tip-off, the city police arrested five members of a robbers gang, including a former Armyman, and thwarted a robbery bid here yesterday. The police recovered two .32 bore pistols with seven cartridges, two bikes without registration number plates and a Swift car (bearing registration No. PB-58-H-0123) from their possession. Among those arrested were identified as an former Armyman Inderjit Singh, Harmail Singh and Vishwajit Singh, residents of Bhangwa village in Majitha, Gagandeep Singh, a resident of Janjhian village in Fatehgarh Churian, and Amardeep Singh, a resident Contaminated water supply bane of Ward No. 56 Snatcher nabbed following encounter WARD WATCH WARD NO 56 AMRITSAR PK Jaiswar Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 13 Residents of Ward No. 56 that comprises localities like Chhota Haripura, Ekta Nagar, several parts of Dhapai, Anand Avenue, Ram Avenue, Mohalla Ghumiara, Nabha Das Nagar and Nivi Abadi, are irked over the contaminated water supply for the past many years. They rue that despite repeated requests to councillors in the municipal corporation and the civic authorities, the problem had remained unsolved. The situation has only aggravated as supply A broken road at Ward No. 56 in Amritsar. PHOTO: VISHAL KUMAR pipes get contaminated after mixing of water with sewage due to improper desilting of the sewer chambers and lines. “The government and the authorities have failed to provide safe and clean water supply on regular basis. The problem of water contamination surfaces every now and then. Repeated requests to the civic authorities have failed to yield results,” said Harish Sharma, a resident of Chhota Haripura. Another resident Rajiv Kumar said, “Sometimes foul smell emanates from drinking water. The people pay heavy amount to get their water tanks cleaned.” He said underground sewer got choked. The power meters boxes installed in middle of roads were another major problem, he added. Ramesh Kumar, another resident, pointed out that the road heading from the Dhapai railway crossing to Dhapai village was broken and needed urgent repair. Parmod Kumar Babla, former councillor of Ward No. 56, said he got roads repaired in different localities, including the stretch leading from Dhapai to Rode Shah Chowk and Nivi Abadi to Ekta Nagar Chowk. He said during his tenure, sewerage was revamped and new streetlights installed in his area. Babla said he got water supply pipelines installed in New Ekta Nagar. He said new streetlights were installed on the road heading from Jhabal to Dhapai phatak till ganda nullah. He said the industrial area on Dhapai Road had remained neglected for many decades. He said that contaminated water supply was not limited to Ward No. 56, but had become a problem of the holy city. The reason behind this was improper desilting of sewer lines, he added. He said officials of the municipal corporation were responsible for the contaminated water supply. He said since dissolution of the civic body House in January this year, no official listened to grievances of residents. c m y b Amritsar, September 13 The Amritsar (Rural) police arrested an alleged snatcher identified as Amritpal Singh (24), a resident of Nangal village, following an encounter in the Batala Road area yesterday. He has two criminal cases registered against him. A bullet hit the suspect’s right leg after the police retaliated his fire before arresting him. SSP Satinder Singh said the Mehta police station SHO had laid a naka on Batala Road. He said a youth came on a bike without registration Gharinda police station, said the police had registered a case under Section 302 of IPC and raids were on to arrest the suspect. In the second incident, a man was beaten to death at Dhodiwind village falling under the Gharinda police station here. He was accused of stealing wheat. The deceased was identified as Gori Singh of Dhodiwind village. The police have booked five persons in this connection. They were identified as Bachittar Singh, his son Himmat Singh, Satnam Singh, Ram Singh and Sukhwinder Singh, all residents of the same village. The suspects were absconding and raids were on to arrest them, the Gharinda police station SHO said. of Pandori Waraich village. A case under Sections 399 and 402 of IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act was registered against the suspects at the Maqboolpura police station here. Abhimanyu Rana, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP), said armed suspects were hiding in dense bushes near pavement along the Jethuwal village canal. They were arrested by the police following raid. During preliminary probe, it was found that they were going to target a local trader, who was going to deposit cash in a bank, in the Vallah area. The ADCP said Harmail Singh was a former bank employee. Rana said that Gagandeep Singh was wanted by the police in a murder case and he was evading the arrest. Two booked on smuggling charge Tribune News Service An injured suspect at a hospital in Amritsar on Wednesday. number plate. When the youth was signalled to stop at the naka, he tried to flee. A police party chased him. The suspect fired at the police party. The police team returned the fire in which Amritpal was injured. He was rushed to the Baba Bakala Continued on page 2 Amritsar, September 13 Following specific information about smuggling of drugs, the Amritsar (Rural police) recovered a drone from Dhanoe Khurd, a border village, here today. Though no contraband was recovered with the drone, the police booked two alleged cross-border smugglers in this connection. Gurpartap Singh Sahota, Superintendent of Police, Continued on page 2 Woman ends life, in-laws booked for dowry death Tribune News Service Amritsar, September 13 The Gate Hakima police have booked five members of a family on charges of dowry death after a married woman identified as Hina Bhanot ended her life. Those booked were identified as Ram Chawla, Poonam, Amit Chawla, Keshav Chawla, Nirmal Chawla, Raman Arora and Punit Arora, all residents of the Khazana Gate area here. No arrest was made till now while a case under Sections 304-B and 120-B of the IPC was registered against the suspects. Honey Bhanot, brother of the deceased and a resident of Ram Nagar Colony, Islamabad, told the police that his sister Hina was married to Arun Chawla of the Khaza Gate area. The couple shifted to a separate house in Grand City on the Jhabal road after marriage. He alleged that his sister’s in-laws allegedly Continued on page 2